Interior • Exterior

Greg Mrakich Painting Indianapolis: Indianapolis Home Sales Up 28%

A story in the March 26 Indianapolis Star about existing home sales caught my attention. We are seeing positive signs in the Indianapolis area housing market. According to the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS® (MIBOR), existing home sales for February 2013 are up 28% compared to a year ago February and six percent over January 2013. Coupled with the increase in sales, the F.C. Tucker Company Market Watch reports that housing inventory in the 9 county region (Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Shelby), was down 15.3% in February. So if you’ve been waiting for the housing market to improve before putting your home on the market, now might be a good time to start thinking about what you need to do to get your house ready for sale.

It's been a long winter!

It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to improve your home’s appeal to prospective buyers.

Starting with the exterior, make sure that your front door and the areas immediately around it look good. Scratched or dinged up doors should be painted (or stained), cobwebs and any insect nests removed from the porch area, and the landscape around the front of the house be well maintained (bushes trimmed, flower beds weeded etc.)

On the interior, as a good general rule, you want to keep things neutral. You might like that red accent wall as soon as you walk through the front door, but potential buyers of your house may not. You do not have to paint the whole room, but getting the red out would be a good call. Touching up the few battered and worn areas that all houses seem to get on certain doors and walls will go a long way to making your whole interior look good, and show better to potential buyers. A good Realtor® can offer other tips on preparing your home for listing.